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I have had four different pairs of speakers that have had the foam surrounds fall apart. why does this happpen? what are the drawbacks, if any with replacing them with rubber ones?
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Foam rot is a very common problem from what I've heard. While there are claims that they will last much longer now due to technological advances, I have a feeling that foam will continue to rot in the future as well... it's just a characteristic of the material.If it makes you feel any better, I had an original Sennheiser MD-421 microphone stored in the original case, which supported the mic with a formed foam interior... that foam not only rotted, but also adhered to the mic and got terribly oily as well... It's a pain to clean off as well. So it's not just speakers.
one pair of speakers were alpine 6x9 two way car speakers,they were about 12 years old when they fell apart. one pair were interaudio towers by bose,which I bought used for fourty dollars with the passive radiators and the foam surrounds on the woofers fallen apart. I repaired those and they work well. one pair are epicure model 5v which are 13 years old and recently I noticed them falling apart. and the last pair are vmps tower II speakers.they are also 13 years old, I don"t know where to buy repair parts for the epicure and vmps speakers. the interaudio speakers that I repaired with rubber. I use these at work they are a bit darker but for work they are ok. but I want to use foam for the last two mentioned. I live in northern indiana, it does get rather humid but when it's real humid and hot we run the air conditioning. any ideas?
Well, for over 10 years, that's fine ! Just consider it as part of maintenance, and refoam them or have them refoamed and last another 10 years ! Companies like http://www.newfoam.com/products.asp#foam should be able to help you ...I thought you had to do it so often, but 10 years + is a long time, sir ...
Putting mineral oil on the foam surrounds every six months or so is supposed to preserve their life. I have a couple of old Infinity monitors that I've had since 1975 and oiled occasionaly, and the foam is still in good condition. Regards, HiFi Guy.
I think it was discovered that Foam Rot is due to some type of bacteria and treating the foam with a certain chemical prevents it.Modern day foam surrounds are allegedly all of the good with no rot.
What speakers are they ? That is unusual, 4 pairs ! Curious to know, as I only know a few ...High humidity is supposed to cause them to fall apart. Or placing them under the sun every day ... drawback of rubber is that it's slower and darker-sounding.
If the drivers were from Scanspeak and Vifa, you shouldn't have problems with their new drivers for many years, as I've had the Proac Response 3 for over 5 years driving them real hard before selling them, and it's been past a year after the sale and the buyer is still happy with them ... and I live in a tropical country, and had the speakers in my living room with no airconditioning during the day, all windows closed, extremely humid ... everyone who's been to my place knows this ... technology has advanced, and foam surrounds are now treated for humid climates, at least for Scanspeak and Vifa.
They will perish in time, but easily replaceable, and last for another 5 years+ ... and Scanspeak and Vifa still have the driver model even after over ten years ! Foam is just so fast and articulate, like my favorite Naim DBLs ....
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